Operation tables and chairs

ABSTRACT

A surgical operation table or chair has a base. A support column is fixed to the base and is inclined with respect to the vertical. A movable support is slidable with respect to the inclined support column so that it can be moved up and down with respect to the base. A patient-supporting means such as a table top or seat is carried by the movable support. Means is provided for raising and lowering the movable support.

United States Patent [1 1 Lee [ 1 Feb. 18, 1975 [75] Inventor:

[ OPERATION TABLES AND CHAIRS Norman John Lee, London, England [73]Assignee: Matburn (Holdings) Limited,

London, England 22 Filed: May 31,1973

21 Appl. No.: 365,468

[30] Foreign Application Priority Data June 8, 1972 Great Britain26732/72 [52] US. Cl. 269/322, 254/93 R, 308/3 R [51] llnt. Cl. A6lg13/00 [58] Field of Search 269/322-325;

308/3 R, 3.6, 3.8, 4 R, 4 L, 6 R, 6 B; 92/177, 178; 254/2 R, 2 C, 93 R[56] References Cited UNITED STATES PATENTS 2,832,656 4/1958 Perry269/325 2,871,085 l/l959 Diack 308/38 3,171,698 3/1965 308/38 3,328,0936/1967 308/6 B 3,389,625 6/1968 308/6 R 3,719,403 3/1973 Sung 308/3Primary Examiner-Roy Lake Assistant ExaminerNeil Abrams Attorney, Agent,or FirmWilliam R. Liberman [5 7] ABSTRACT A surgical operation table orchair has a base. A support column is fixed to the base and is inclinedwith respect to the vertical. A movable support is slidable with respectto the inclined support column so that it can be moved up and down withrespect to the base. A patient-supporting means such as a table top orseat is carried by the movable support. Means is provided for raisingand lowering the movable support.

1 Claim, 3 Drawing Figures SHEET 2 OF 2 PATENTEB FEB] 81975 1 OPERATIONTABLES AND CHAIRS BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION Surgical operation tablesnormally comprise a padent-supporting platform or table top which issupported on a movable or fixed base in such a way that the height ofthe table top with respect to the base can be adjusted as desired. Thesupport and height adjustment mechanism is usually relativelycomplicated and expensive. An object of the present invention is toprovide a simple way of supporting the table top.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE ACCOMPANYING DRAWINGS FIG. 1 is an elevation ofan operation table, and, FIGS. 2 and 3 are fragmentary views of part ofa support means of the table.

DESCRIPTION OF A PREFERRED EMBODIMENT In the illustrated embodiment ofthe invention, a surgical operation table comprises a movable base 1although if desired the base may be fixed. A support column 2 ofrectangular cross-section is fixed to the base 1 and is inclined withrespect to the vertical. Thus, it has two opposed surfaces disposed invertical planes and two opposed surfaces disposed in inclined planes.

Inside the inclined support column 2 is a support in the form of a ram 3for a patient-supporting platform or table top 4. The ram 3 is raised orlowered by hydraulic means (not shown) under the control of a pedal 11.Neither the hydraulic means or the construction of the table top formsany part of the present invention.

The top of the ram 3 carries a yoke 5 which itself carries thepatient-supporting table top 4.

The support column 2 and the ram 3 are both tubes of rectangularcross-section. Each of the two walls of the support column disposed invertical planes is provided with a set of four low-friction bearing pads6 which extend into the interior of the column and bear on the ram 3. Oneach of the other two walls is a pair of pressure pads 7 and a pair ofpressure bearing rollers 8. The rollers 8 at the forward or lower wall 9are arranged above the pressure pads and the rollers at rearward orupper wall 10 are arranged at the bottom as shown in FIGS. 1 and 2. Thebearing pads and rollers are adjustable so that the pressure applied bythem to the ram can be varied. This adjustment also permits compensationfor wear to be made. As is readily apparent from FIG. 2 of the drawing,the load of the movable support column 3 is taken by the rollers 8 andpads 7 of the lower inclined wall 9. The particular arrangement of theroller on the upper part of the lower wall and on the lower part of theupper wall, as shown, serves to prevent any rocking movement between themovable support column 3 and the base support column 2.

As the ram rises or falls it runs on the pressure pads and rollers.

The invention makes use of the stresses produced by the inclinedsupport-column to assist in maintaining the movable member in anydesired position with respect to the fixed inclined column. Owing to theinclination the movable member is permanently loaded in one direction.During use, the rollers and/or bearing pads can be tightened against themovable member to compensate for wear.

It will be appreciated, that the movable member could support the seatof an operation chair instead of a table top.

I claim:

I. A device for supporting a patient during surgical procedurescomprising a base member, an upwardly extending support column fixed'tothe base and inclined with respect to the vertical, a movable supportcolumn reciprocably slidable within and with respect to the inclinedsupport column, a patient-supporting platform mounted atop the movablesupport means for raising and lowering the movable support and thepatient-supporting platform thereon along a plane inclined from thevertical, the support column having two opposite walls in parallelvertical planes and two opposite walls in parallel inclined planes, themovable support reciprocably sliding within the support column, lowfriction bearings between the fixed support column and the movablesupport column including a pressurebearing pad and a pressure-bearingroller mounted on each of the opposing inclined walls of the supportcolunn, the lower of the inclined walls having the load supportingbearing roller disposed above and spaced from the bearing pad and theupper of the inclined walls having the load supporting bearing rollerdisposed below the bearing pad, thereby to reduce rocking movement ofthe movable support about the aforesaid load supporting upper bearingroller on the lower wall with respect to the support column on repeatedreciprocation of the movable column with respect to the support column.

1. A device for supporting a patient during surgical procedurescomprising a base member, an upwardly extending support column fixed tothe base and inclined with respect to the vertical, a movable supportcolumn reciprocably slidable within and with respect to the inclinedsupport column, a patient-supporting platform mounted atop the movablesupport means for raising and lowering the movable support and thepatient-supporting platform thereon along a plane inclined from thevertical, the support column having two opposite walls in parallelvertical planes and two opposite walls in parallel inclined planes, themovable support reciprocably sliding within the support column, lowfriction bearings between the fixed support column and the movablesupport column including a pressure-bearing pad and a pressure-bearingroller mounted on each of the opposing inclined walls of the supportcolunn, the lower of the inclined walls having the load supportingbearing roller disposed above and spaced from the bearing pad and theupper of the inclined walls having the load supporting bearing rollerdisposed below the bearing pad, thereby to reduce rocking movement ofthe movable support about the aforesaid load supporting upper bearingroller on the lower wall with respect to the support column on repeatedreciprocation of the movable column with respect to the support column.